The Best Of: Vol 1 by Silverchair
For most, it was a great surprise to see a Silverchair 'greatest hits' album after the band had only released three studio albums. This is one of those things that is stated in every review of this album (another example of this is for Metallica's self titled album, where in every review it states that it is also known as the 'black album'). This may seem that a great band like Silverchair is trying to milk fans for more money. A common misunderstanding is that the band endorsed this release. In fact, they didn't. Sony Music (their record label) released this without any communication with any band members, and without any form of consent from the band. If anyone is in it just for the money, then it must be the record label.
With that out of the way, let's get on with the review.
Tracklist- Anthem for the Year 2000
- Freak
- Ana's Song (Open Fire)
- Emotion Sickness
- Israel's Son
- Tomorrow
- Cemetery
- Door
- Miss You Love
- Abuse Me
- Pure Massacre
Please Note: there are other versions of this album available, such as one featuring rare tracks, including b-sides and live versions of the band's hits. This review is for the budget edition of the album, featuring just the 'best of' Silverchair and no more.
Silverchair have risen to international fame since their 1995 debut. That album, in particular is especially good. Perhaps (and I'm just being picky), there could have been more songs from that album on this compilation. Their earlier songs somewhat resemble the 'Seattle Grunge' sound of the early nineties. Some of their songs, are beautiful, soft acoustic tracks. Others have become modern rock anthems. Unfortunately, there is no flow whatsoever on this album, and the multiple styles Silverchair implements in their original compositions, are linked poorly.
For those of you that don't know the story of Silverchair I will explain it briefly. Three fifteen year olds, from Newcastle, Australia, won a 'battle of the bands' competition. The prize was studio time. Silverchair used this time to record
Tomorrow. After a world-famous support tour, their debut album,
Frogstomp achieved international sucess.
For every compilation of a band that has already released studio albums, before purchasing the compilation, there is always a consideration if it would be more appropriate to purchase individual albums. For Silverchair, this latter option is definately the more sensible option. Whilst this collection features all the band's hits from their first three albums, the flow is totally and wholly lost. This disc travels from modern rock anthems
Anthem for the Year 2000 and
Freak to the calm, beautiful acoustic tracks
Ana's Song and
Emotion Sickness. It then proceeds to two excellent grunge-flavoured, heavily distored classics from the band's debut (
Israel's Son and their breakthrough hit,
Tomorrow). Already here we have had three great snippets from a great Australian band.
Personally, I've selected the band's debut as my favourite of their studio recordings. Featured on this album are three songs from their debut. The songs that have been taken from that album are:
Israel's Son,
Tomorrow and
Pure Massacre. These songs feature a Nirvana-esque sound and excellently showcase three fifteen year olds on the rise.
Overall, this album is not a worthwhile purchase. This disk is "all over the place" and there is no-flow in between songs. The track order seems somewhat random, and nothing is included here but the band's singles. For Silverchair's existing fans, perhaps the 2 disk edition of this album may be worthwhile solely due to the rare tracks found on the second disk. For people who want to get introduced to Silverchair, then it is best to start with 1995's
Frogstomp.
Recommended Tracks
Tomorrow
Israel's Son
Pure Massacre
Anthem For The Year 2000
Freak
Cemetery
